Show lE SlOX FRAUDS The ruling of the Assistant Secretary of the Interior which admits to pepslon rights a number of helpless children of deceased soldiers will add somewhat to the expense list but to this there will Le no objection on the part of those persons and papers which are ybrking i for pension reform For its IJhe Herald Her-ald has < explained several times the design de-sign is not to exclude any one from the benefits pf the pension laws Who isleg ally entitled thereto It is only i the frauds that are objectionable and those I unlawful drains on the i treasury that I have been made by misrepresentation and deception Among the illegal beneficiaries of the government are a number of men who have been induced by pension agents I to make application for allowances to I which they were not really entitled but which they were led to believe were their due the agents obtaining them of course making money by the transaction transac-tion The investigations of the New York Times to which The Herald has already al-ready drawn attention have developed a great deal of information upon the subject from which it appears that many of such persons were fairly well entitled to a pension but not at the maximum rate The pension rolls of the government bear the names of tens and hundreds of thousands of such men Personally worthy and upright they have been induced to accept full disability disabil-ity pensions to which they have no title to take money from the treasury treas-ury that the law gives them no right tp take It is shown too that the scheming town or village politician always solicitous solic-itous about his district or his county and without scruple as to the means by which he obtains the votes that assure as-sure his success the indefatigable pension pen-sion agent or solicitor who drums up business and fees by going about convincing con-vincing sturdy men that they are physical phy-sical wrecks the easygoing examining examin-ing boards whose members good natur edly certify to false pathologies just to help a neighbor or fellowtownsman plunge his hand a little deeper into the public treasury and finally Pension Commissioners like General Raum or Corporal Tanner who have delighted to strengthen the Republican party by orders and interpretations that have made the golden pension stream always wider and deeper these are the four cornerstones of pension abuses Their united efforts have taken millions of dollars from the treasury of the United States to be bestowed in unlawful and undeserved bounties The following summary shows briefly what has been demonstrated by the disclosures of the Times en this important matter specific cases in each particular having been furnished in detail First Men are drawing pensions under the pld laws for disabilities incurred in-curred in the service and in the line Qf c duty who give no evidence of thee the-e r cZ 1f existence of the disabilities alleged when they filed their claim They never existed or they have ceased to exist since the pension was granted SecondMen are drawing pensions under the old laws for disabilities incurred in-curred in the service who were for twenty years after the close of the war notably strong and ablebodied In one instance a man who boasted for fifteen years that he was physically I the strongest man in the village in which he lived now wrecked by dissipation dissi-pation draws a large pension for disabilities dis-abilities incurred In the service ThirdMore than 25 per cent of those pensioners who draw nder the old laws for disabilities incurred in the service have been granted increases in-creases during the last five years Many of the men who draw these increased in-creased pensions are apparently no more disabled now than they were five years ago They arc doing the same work and getting the same pay for it Fourth Many of those who draw the maximum amount of S12 a month under the act of June 3890 for disabilities dis-abilities which according to law prevent pre-vent them from earning a support at manual labor are earning their liv ing at manual labor precisely as they have been doing for the last twenty five years The notorious Order 16i issued by Commissioner Baum is responsible res-ponsible for the distribution of enormous enor-mous amounts of money to ablebodied men I menFifth Many who have been for years idle loafers intemperate and given to all excesses are drawing pensions pen-sions under the act of June 27 ISDd which provides that the inability to earn a support shall be the result of their own vicious habits SixthIn some cities the umber of pensioners who draw money from the treasury because of the act of June 27 1S90 is nearly as large as the number who draw under all the laws enacted during the previous twent five years SeventhThere is machinery accessible acces-sible to pension attorneys for roroour mg discharges for men who left their companies and went to Canada during the war Deserters are on the pension rolls Eighth Women are drawing widows pensions who have children born years since the death of their husbands They have refused to marry because their pension would then cease NinthMany men who are rated the wealthiest in the towns where they live are drawing pensiins In many instances they were rich before they asked for pensions Tenth In the majority of instances the men whose names are improperly or fraudulently on the pension rolls are honest arid free of any intention oT taking a dollar from the government to which they are not entitled They have been put in a false position by the pension sharks the men who de vote their energies to securing pen sions at all hazards that they may fatten fat-ten themselves on the fees Eleventh Machine politicians during the last administration used the pen sion office for partisan purposes They promised pensions for votes and in some cases delivered the goods They have threatened the pensioner with the loss of his pension if he voted the Democratic ticket Twelfth The poiticians and the pen sion agents rather than the pensioner have planned the raid on the treasury The pension bureau has helped them execute the raid |